Christmas in Miami : Putting Up the Decorations and Admiring the Skyline

 

Putting Christmas decorations up, making me feel sad for not having holiday spirit yet.....2012, wish my niece and nephew will be here in Miami for the Holidays..

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates Jesus' birth on December 25. It is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.

Enjoying the view of Miami skyline.....NEON Loft South River Drive.....a beauty of Miami downtown.....

Miami, nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America", is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County. Forbes magazine once ranked Miami as "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. Miami was also ranked a few years ago as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power.

 

Downtown Miami and South Florida are home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and is home to many large companies both nationally and internationally. The Civic Center is a major center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers, and biotechnology industries. For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the "Cruise Capital of the World," has been the number one cruise passenger port in the world, accommodating some of the world's largest cruise ships and operations, and is currently the busiest in both passenger traffic and cruise lines.

 

 *References: Wikipedia.org and History.com